As I have been laboring over writing this last several weeks, I have started and half-completed many different posts. The 3rd part of the sin series is all but complete and yet it lacks something – I am not sure what it is so I have left it in a folder as I wait upon the Lord to give me wisdom and insight as to what I should do with it.

Maybe He wants me to start over. Maybe He wants me to meditate on the verses I am using a little longer. Maybe I am not a good enough writer to say what needs to be said. I can’t tell you right now or it wouldn’t be sitting in a folder.

That being said, lately I have been inundated in my email, my Facebook, and different churches I have attended with tons of, ummm, stuff – some of it downright foolish stuff.

In contrast to this, a brother in Messiah posted recently that:

“fools are made when the future is trying to be predicted”

I shot back and “false prophets . . . 😛 ”

He then shared a statement that his dad would tell him:

“its better for people to think you are a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt”

I again answered with an affirmation of his dad’s statement:

Proverbs 17:28 (CJB)

28 Even a fool, if he stays silent, is thought wise;

he who keeps his mouth shut can pass for smart.

It got me to thinking . . .

As I started thinking, my mind became flooded with thoughts such as holy ghost laughter, kicking people in the face with their biker boot to heal them, laps for Jesus, toking the ghost, snorting lines of scripture, prophecy only having to be 60% correct, demons in believers, people barking like dogs and being led on a leash in church, allergies are demonic, Jesus being a derivative of Zeus, the doubting of Paul, deconstructionism, Christianity is pagan, Messianics are Judaizers, we are little gods, Ishtar eggs, health and wealth . . .

The list is so long that if I were to put them all down, there would probably be over 3 pages of the above paragraph. You know what is wrong with the above paragraph? All of the stuff is missing the 2 most important commandments. The focus is not on these commandments. It is on stuff . . . pat yourself on the back stuff! Prideful, arrogant, and foolish stuff!

Matthew 22:33-40 (CJB) 33 When the crowds heard how he taught, they were astounded; 34 but when the P’rushim learned that he had silenced the Tz’dukim, they got together, 35 and one of them who was a Torah expert asked a sh’eilah to trap him: 36 “Rabbi, which of the mitzvot in the Torah is the most important?” 37 He told him,

“‘You are to love Adonai your God

with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’ 38 This is the greatest and most important mitzvah.

39 And a second is similar to it,

‘You are to love your neighbor as yourself.’

40 All of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two mitzvot.”

Yeshua (Jesus) quotes two different Torah verses when He states that ALL of the TORAH and THE PROPHETS (the Bible at the time) are dependent on the following 2 COMMANDS:

Loving the Lord God with all your mind, heart, soul, an strength

Loving your neighbor as yourself

So how do you learn how to do this? How do you gain the wisdom necessary to do this? To apply this? Let’s turn to Mishlei, or as you are probably more familiar with, Proverbs.

Mishlei (Proverbs) 1:1-6 (CJB)

1 The proverbs of Shlomo the son of David,

king of Isra’el,2 are for:

learning about wisdom and discipline;

for understanding words expressing deep insight;

3 for gaining an intelligently disciplined life,

doing what is right, just and fair;

4 for endowing with caution those who don’t think

and the young person with knowledge and discretion.

5 Someone who is already wise

will hear and learn still more;

someone who already understands

will gain the ability to counsel well;

6 he will understand

proverbs,

obscure expressions,

the sayings and riddles of the wise.

The word “proverb” is ‏מָשָׁל‎māshāl. Phonetically: maw-shawl.

A popular saying of the day could embody an observation so noteworthy that it became a proverb. First Samuel 10:12 states, “Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?”

It is wisdom in contradistinction to foolishness. The psalms are made up of proverbs. You could call the psalms “songs of wisdom” and you would not be incorrect. So how do the Proverbs start? What is the first saying of wisdom?

Mishlei (Proverbs) 1:7 (CJB)

7 The fear of Adonai is the beginning of knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Did you notice that the first saying of wisdom from the very wise King Shlomo (Solomon) is a battle?

It is the battle between those that seek wisdom and those that despise wisdom. If you will remember from verse 2, one of reasons for the Proverbs: are for learning about wisdom and insight – something that verse 7 tells us that fools despise (regard with contempt).

Can it not then be concluded that since wisdom and knowledge comes from Adonai, that if fools despise wisdom, that they also despise Adonai?

I will let you think about that one for a second . . .

A good place to start to see if what I have said is true or has merit might be to see what is the biblical meaning of FOOL is. To be a fool has the meaning of to be perverse . . .

188. ‏אֱוִיל‎ʾﬂwîl

Phonetic Pronunciation: ev-eel’

noun

fool

The word occurs 26 times in the OT, with 19 occurrences in Proverbs. A systematic appraisal of the word’s usage in the OT suggests the term denotes someone who not only lacks sense, but is also morally corrupt. It is not uncommon to find ʾﬂwil contrasted with words such as chākhām, “wise;” yāshār, “upright;” or sﬁkhel, “prudent.”

There is a story in the Proverbs about a foolish young man. The Greek text would call him young, naïve, and/or inexperienced. It is a story of lust, sex, betrayal, adultery and ultimately . . . hell:

Proverbs 7:1-27 (CJB) 1 My son, keep my words, store up my commands with you. 2 Obey my commands, and live; guard my teaching like the pupil of your eye. 3 Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister”; call understanding your kinswoman; 5 so that they can keep you from unknown women, from loose women with their seductive talk.

6 For I was at the window of my house,

glancing out through the lattice,

7 when I saw among the young men there,

among those who don’t think for themselves,

a young fellow devoid of all sense.

8 He crosses the street near her corner

and continues on toward her house.

9 Dusk turns into evening,

and finally night, dark and black.

10 Then a woman approaches him,

dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.

11 She’s the coarse, impulsive type,

whose feet don’t stay at home;

12 rather, she stalks the streets and squares,

lurking at every street corner.

13 She grabs him, gives him a kiss,

and, brazen-faced, she says to him,

14 “I had to offer peace sacrifices,

and I fulfilled my vows today.

15 This is why I came out to meet you,

to look for you; now I’ve found you.

16 I’ve spread quilts on my couch

made of colored Egyptian linen.

17 I’ve perfumed my bed

with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.

18 Come on, let’s make love till morning;

we’ll enjoy making love.

19 My husband isn’t at home,

he’s gone on a long trip;

20 he took a bag of money with him

and won’t be back till the moon is full.”

21 With all her sweet talk she convinces him,

enticing him with her seductive words.

22 At once he follows her

like an ox on its way to be slaughtered;

like a fool to be punished in the stocks;

23 or like a bird rushing into a trap,

not knowing its life is at stake

till an arrow pierces its liver.

24 So now, children, listen to me;

pay attention to what I am saying.

25 Don’t let your heart turn to her ways;

don’t stray onto her paths.

26 For many are those she has struck down dead,

numerous those she has killed.

27 Her house is the way to Sh’ol;

it leads down to the halls of death.

This young man is called a fool in verse 22. There are many in the body of believers today that live outside of the marriage covenant and think that it is perfectly okay for them to do so – that sex outside of marriage doesn’t lead to hell. This is a foolish belief because the text says just the opposite (remember, a fool hates and despises the wisdom that comes from God). You can NOT rationalize (make the unreasonable sound reasonable) the following without being a fool:

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (CJB)

9 Don’t you know that unrighteous people

will have no share in the Kingdom of God?

Don’t delude yourselves — people who engage in

sex before marriage,

who worship idols,

who engage in sex after marriage with someone other than their spouse,

who engage in active or passive homosexuality,

10 who steal,

who are greedy,

who get drunk,

who assail people with contemptuous language,

who rob —

none of them will share in the Kingdom of God.

And just so that none of you get self-righteous, watching these things in movies or THINKING about doing these things in your mind is the same as doing them. And yet from pulpits and from blogs – from believers and from non-believers we hear and see these things every day. Notice the following:

Jude 1:4 (CJB)

4 For certain individuals,

the ones written about long ago as being meant for this condemnation,

have wormed their way in —

ungodly people

who pervert God’s grace into a license for debauchery

and disown our only Master and Lord, Yeshua the Messiah.

One of the perversions I am particularly passionate about is the “we are not under the law but under grace so God will forgive me” excuse for doing such things. That is a perversion! Look at 1st Corinthians again and tell me that it is not a perversion. To put it more bluntly – it is foolish!

I realize my last statement might come off as preachy and harsh. I would remind you that hell is harsh . . . and very real. The text tells us the fool is on his way to hell. Candy coating that is not going to help anyone turn from their sins to God (repent). If you think saying “Jesus is Lord” is a license to live a sinful lifestyle, then you have perverted grace into a license for debauchery. The writer of Hebrews actually deals with this in much more detail:

Hebrews 6:4-6 (CJB)

4 For when people have once been enlightened,

tasted the heavenly gift,

become sharers in the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit),

5 and tasted the goodness of God’s Word

and the powers of the ‘olam haba(age/world to come) —

6 and then have fallen away —

it is impossible to renew them so that they turn from their sin,

as long as for themselves

they keep executing the Son of God on the stake all over again

and keep holding him up to public contempt.

So, do you re-crucify Messiah? Do you hold him up to public contempt? Does your lifestyle pervert him?

In fact, Kefa (Peter) tells us there will be false prophets and false teachers among us. They will exploit us with fabricated stories. Kefa tells us that they won’t be spared:

2 Peter 2:3-6 (CJB)

3 In their greed they will exploit you with fabricated stories.

Their punishment, decreed long ago,

is not idle;

their destruction is not asleep!

4 For God did not spare the angels who sinned;

on the contrary,

he put them in gloomy dungeons lower than Sh’ol to be held for judgment.

5 And he did not spare the ancient world;

on the contrary,

he preserved Noach, a herald of righteousness,

with seven others,

and brought the Flood upon a world of ungodly people.

6 And he condemned the cities of S’dom and ‘Amora,

reducing them to ashes and ruin,

as a warning

to those in the future who would live ungodly lives;

Could we not also say as a warning in the future to fools?

2 Peter 2:18 (CJB)

18 Mouthing grandiosities of nothingness,

they play on the desires of the old nature,

in order to seduce with debaucheries

people who have just begun to escape from those whose way of life is wrong.

Is this not done from pulpits, blogs and Facebook everyday? The problem is that fools think they are in the right –

Proverbs 12:15 (CJB)

15 Fools suppose their way is straight,

but the wise pay attention to advice.

I know many fools that call themselves believers. Iron doesn’t sharpen iron with them because in their estimation, their blade is always sharp. They don’t pay attention to advice because they have no desire for counsel – no respect for correction – their truth is the only truth they will consider. They suppose their way is straight . . .

They get angry fast when challenged:

Proverbs 12:16 (CJB)

16 A fool’s anger is known at once,

but a cautious person slighted conceals his feelings.

Proverbs 20:3 (CJB)

3 Avoiding quarrels brings a person honor;

for any fool can explode in anger.

0 – angry in 6.2 seconds. There is no self-control.

Proverbs 25:28 (CJB)

28 Like a city breached, without walls,

is a person who lacks self-control.

Notice what the Rabbi Sha’ul (Paul) wrote to the churches in the province of Galatia concerning something the even legalism can’t touch which includes self-control (something a fool lacks):

In other words, there is nothing in the Torah that can be perverted through legalism to be in opposition to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control . . .

Pride is the enemy of all of these things. Without self-control, the mouth of the fool gives him away:

Proverbs 14:3 (CJB)

3 From the mouth of a fool sprouts pride,

but the lips of the wise protect them.

It could be safely said that a fool clothes himself in pride and that anger is his hat . . .

Proverbs 14:9 (AMP)

9 Fools make a mock of sin

and sin mocks the fools

[who are its victims; a sin offering made by them only mocks them, bringing them disappointment and disfavor],

but among the upright there is the favor of God.

Again, the impudent child thinks he know more than the parent

Proverbs 15:5 (CJB)

5 A fool despises his father’s discipline,

but he who heeds warnings is prudent.

As you can see, the FOOL can be a prideful, undisciplined, and angry person. He is right whether he is right or wrong. He despises wisdom. He despises correction.

He “thinks” therefore he “is.”

His way is straight so he needs no accountability – no advice. In fact he would despise correction and accountability. Indeed, I suspect the only advice a fool may heed, if he heeds any, is another fools.

The fool despises the wisdom and correction which comes from our Lord because the fool is in opposition to the Lord:

Jeremiah 4:22 (CJB)

22 “It is because my people are foolish —

they do not know me;

they are stupid children,

without understanding,

wise when doing evil;

but they don’t know how to do good.”

The fool is skilled in doing evil and by his very actions and words

shows that he does not love Adonai with his whole heart . . .

or love his neighbor as himself . . . or even fear Adonai

. . . until he does, he will continue to be a fool.

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About Even If Ministries

Dani'el 3:17-18 (CJB)
17 Your majesty, if our God, whom we serve, is able to save us, he will save us from the blazing hot furnace and from your power.
18 But even if he doesn’t, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will neither serve your gods nor worship the gold statue which you have set up.”

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